Re: Why some tunes stick in your head

[Alex J. Lubet <lubet001...>]

Responding to the message of <kvmudtchpeps8hdb1tjivfhi9gf9t223h9 (at) 
4ax(dot)com>
from jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org:
> 
> On Fri, 6 Apr 2001 12:44:28 -0400 (EDT), you wrote:
> 
> >most 5 year olds
> >can come up with a tune that willget stuck in your head - Nyah nah na
> >NAH nah, nah!
> 
> i guess there's no point inquiring as to the origins of that particular =
> niggun nugget? (I discovered, BTW, that it's a great way to learn "a =
> third down")
> 
Actually, Leonard Bernstein discussed precisely this in the Norton lectures he 
gave at Harvard.  My recollection is that he used Noam Chomsky's linguistic 
theories.  (Chomsky's politics make me gag.  Alan Dershowitz has a chapter on 
Chomsky in Chutpzah, which I enjoyed immensely, although some of A. D.'s clients
make me gag.  So what can you do?)

Good luck on your first real gig, kid.  Just make sure you get paid.  If you 
have any trouble, call Dershowitz.

 

Alex Lubet, Ph. D.
Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Music
Adjunct Professor of American and Jewish Studies
University of Minnesota
2106 4th St. S
Minneapolis, MN 55455
612 624-7840 612 624-8001 (fax)

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